“BEE POP” – an orchestral snapshot from the ERSTE Foundation beehive

The two Viennese artists Paul Divjak and Wolfgang Schlögl (a.k.a. I-Wolf) present their latest project “BEE POP” at a MAK NITE Lab and invite visitors to immerse themselves in a performative multimedia production.
“BEE POP” is a concert with the participation of 100,000 bees of the ERSTE Foundation beehive on the roof of the Secession.

In the fall of 2011, Divjak and Schlögl, also known as “Team Tool Time”, had the idea of exploring the world of honeybees and developed an acoustic project with the sound of bees. In an extensive research process they accompanied both the operations of the beekeeper and the entire life cycle of the bees and collected their sounds directly at the beehive. The buzz and hum and noise of the equipment from the apiary, for example a honey extractor, were recorded with the help of highly sensitive microphones and condensed into an orchestral snapshot. Now, the MAK Columned Main Hall is to become a bee disco: with 100,000 bees participating, Team Tool Time will be mounting the first-ever live presentation of BEE POP. A brief documentary has also been put together for this evening, a “making-of” with details from the world of bees picked up by the artists while making their field recordings at the hives of local beekeepers. Visitors can look forward to undreamt-of sonic experiences that tell of the apiarian kingdom’s fascinating social dynamics.